Filtered By: Topstories
News

PHL-Russia military pact signed in Duterte’s visit to Moscow in May


The Philippines will sign a military cooperation agreement with Russia when President Rodrigo Duterte visits Moscow later this month, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Thursday.

Lorenzana said that he and his counterpart Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu would sign framework agreement.

"One of the thing I'm going to do when the President goes there for the same visit late this month is for me and the Defense Minister to sign an agreement to set the framework on how to go about...military to military relationship," he said.

He and Shoygu met on his trip to Russia for the Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS) recently.

"We talked about a lot of things...cooperation on terrorism, we talked about expanding out relationship maybe exchanges of military personnel from one country to another, observation of exercises," Lorenzana said on the sidelines of a Philippine Air Force exhibit.

Only after the agreement is signed will he look at the equipment that Russia will make available to Philippine forces.

Lorenzana said he was eyeing aircraft and rifles, but added that no decision had been made on what the military will be purchasing.

Russia's largest arms manufacturer held a briefing for the Philippine Embassy in Moscow after Duterte expressed wishes for closer ties with Russia. —NB, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT